A computer and a comfortable chair may be all that’s necessary to investigate catastrophic landslides in the farthest reaches of the world. Researchers have developed a way to remotely detect the events using energy unleashed by landslides, just as geologists identify earthquakes using waves of energy.

The technique provides a three-dimensional look at a landslide’s trajectory down a slope. As a result, it may help scientists unravel the complicated physics governing these natural disaste...